NHS Identity Guidelines (including NHS exterior and interior signage).

The NHS Identity was introduced in 1999 and is managed by NHS England for the Department of Health and Social Care. The guidelines are published as a website rather than a single PDF, split into identity guidelines (colours, fonts, the NHS logo, organisational logos, partnership and service branding, naming, tone of voice) and worked examples by category. Signage has its own examples category covering NHS exterior signage, NHS interior signage and primary care fascias, windows and interiors.

It is a brand standard, not a wayfinding method. It tells you what an NHS sign must look like; the national guidance on how to plan the wayfinding itself is still the 2005 NHS Estates document Wayfinding, which leaves sign styling to this identity.

Frutiger is the core NHS font and Arial the secondary one. The guidelines show Frutiger 65 Bold for main titles and floor names and Frutiger 55 Roman for supporting copy on both external and internal signs. In December 2024 NHS England secured a perpetual licence for Frutiger 45 Light, 55 Roman and 65 Bold on behalf of NHS organisations in England, which they access by applying to become sub-licence holders through the NHS digital service manual. Italic is not covered. Ask the trust how font files will be provided for sign production.

The colour palette runs in levels: NHS blues, neutrals, support greens and highlights. NHS Blue and white are meant to dominate. Highlight colours are to be used sparingly, and Emergency Services Red is reserved in practice for urgent and emergency care because of its strong association.

The Irish counterpart is the HSE Signage Manual, which goes much further: it fixes a sign family with sizes, x-heights, materials and Irish language rules. The NHS England identity only governs the brand layer. NHS Scotland and NHS Wales each run separate identities with different typefaces and colours, so a healthcare portfolio across England, Scotland and Wales needs a separate brand specification for each, plus the Welsh Language Standards in Wales.